A Snapshot of PIP Team Contributions to the Poultry Industry from 2021 to 2025.
In the fall of 2021, the PIP Team was created, with founding members Dr. Val Carney and Brenda Reimer joined by Dr. Mohammad Afrouziyeh, Thania Moraes and Dawn Hage. The group combined multiple talents and decades of experience as well as PhD and master’s degrees in Poultry Science and other disciplines. They are published writers, tech transfer and website development experts, skilled knowledge mobilization and facilitations leaders, researchers, presenters and educators. The chemistry in the team was immediate as they developed a mission statement and an exciting and ambitious agenda to tackle issues of critical importance to both the PIP partners and the poultry industry at large.
“Our goal is to support and present new research, tools and innovations in ways that connect best with the people who need it most,” stated team lead Val Carney. “We seek out and create opportunities for students to connect with industry, share their research projects, find job opportunities and experience hands-on learning on farm. We are constantly seeking new ways to connect with and help poultry producers to solve the issues that are truly important – to fill the gap between research and practical application to have real results for farmers on the ground.”
The PIP team will be dissolved on March 31, 2025. We hope that the bridging of research outcomes to farmers on the ground, the support of up and coming poultry professionals and students, and the educational and industry building events that were launched by the team will continue into the future. We thank all that attended our events and supported our vision, and we hope that we made some small difference to the poultry industry both in Alberta and beyond our borders. Here is a snapshot of PIP Contributions to the Poultry Industry from 2021 to 2025 with links for further reading. Thank you for all your support and contributions to our projects and dreams.
Canadian Poultry Research Forum 2021 – Present
The Canadian Poultry Research Forum (CPRF) is the brainchild of Brenda Reimer. She founded a committee made up of researchers, academics and industry leaders from coast to coast, to plan and host this annual virtual event. The forum features keynote speakers discussing pressing needs in the poultry industry and also provides a platform for students and researchers to present their work. The first CPRF took place virtually on June 21, 22 and 23, 2021. In addition to the forum, the committee also launched the CPRF Hall of Fame in 2021, created to celebrate leaders in the poultry world who have paved the way for the scientists of today. The 2021 CPRF was a great success, and the committee hosted a second virtual forum in June 2022. In 2023, the CPRF took a break from the virtual event but still named a Hall of Fame inductee. The CPRF continued in May 2024, featuring 100 attendees, with 40 scientific presentations and posters.
Hall of Fame Inductees: 2021: Professor Henry Orr, Dr. John Summers and Dr. Hank Classen 2022: Dr. Frank Robinson and Dr. Richard (Dick) Julian 2023: Dr. Stewart (Stew) Ritchie 2024: Dr. Craigmyle Riddell, Dr. Doug Korver and Dr. Wilhelm Guenter.
PIP Student/Industry Event: Get Set for Your Future 2021 – 2024
One of the enduring challenges in the poultry community is finding ways to connect people with industry and on-farm expertise with agriculture students who are looking for career and volunteer opportunities. The Get Set for your Future event was created to introduce students to poultry professionals in fields ranging from feed and nutrition, hatching eggs, broilers and processing to research, turkeys, egg farming and poultry veterinarians. The first mixer launched in September 2021. Although originally planned as an in-person event, Covid 19 forced the PIP team to pivot to a virtual version. The students rotated through virtual tables, represented by 11 poultry industry experts. The event included wonderful swag bags and gifts from industry, scholarship opportunities and lots of networking. In September 2022, the Get Set for Your Future took place in-person, with U of A students invited to dinner and a rural café style event, with experts at tables and students rotating at the sound of a crowing rooster! The PIP Team and PIP Education and Mentoring Committee continued to improve and tweak this very popular event, hosting mixers again in September 2023 and 2024. Many students have reported that the Get Set for Your Future event was both eye opening and career changing for them and industry professionals appreciated the opportunity to connect and inspire future employees and colleagues.
Feeding Breeders Webinar Series and Summit 2022
Feeding Breeders is a complex, challenging and controversial issue in the poultry industry.
Different approaches have been used across North America and around the globe with varying success and new research and ideas abound. After much brainstorming, the PIP team proposed the Feeding Breeders Webinar Series and Summit. They organized an eight week series of webinars, featuring experts from around the world to address some of the most pressing issues. After the webinars, participants would gather in Canmore, Alberta for a two day Summit, where they could engage in lively discussion, share ideas and tackle some of the biggest questions around feeding breeders.
The Feeding Breeders Webinar Series began on June 30 with Dr. Val Carney and Dr. Jeanna Wilson, asking the question: How have the changes in broiler genetics affected male and female broiler breeders over the past 60 years? Subsequent webinars addressed questions including managing nutritional needs, reproductive physiology and chick output, sustainability, unintended consequences of genetic selection. optimum productivity and welfare and much more.
The Feeding Breeders webinars culminated in the two-day Feeding Breeders Summit, on August 31 and September 1, in the mountains of Canmore, AB. Participants engaged in small group discussions with three themes related to issues around feeding the modern-day broiler breeder. After small group discussions, all participants came together to share their insights and ideas. The final session explored solutions, and the steps required to achieve them going forward. Participants expressed personal commitments to facilitate change and the ideas from the discussion sessions solidified into outcome statements for change.
SPARK! 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0
What was the intention behind the SPARK events? It was an evolving series of discussions and presentations, meant to bridge the gap between research projects and industry needs and reveal what success would look like in the poultry industry in ten years. Initially developed and hosted by the PIP team, the later discussions would be led by facilitator John Knapp and lead to a new Research and Extension Strategy for PIP.
SPARK 2.0 took place in Red Deer, AB on October 17, 2022. The collaborative event featured presentations from AHEP, EFA, and ACP showcasing on-farm experience and challenges. Researchers then shared a snapshot of their current work, and the afternoon continued with smaller groups engaging in discussion.
SPARK 3.0 took place in Red Deer on April 14, 2023. Led by facilitator John Knapp, participants were divided into groups and asked to discuss a series of questions that helped define strategies for PIP as an organization that would be meaningful and beneficial to the poultry industry at all levels.
SPARK 4.0 was the final meeting of minds and took place on November 2, 2023. The result of these discussions, focus groups and one-on-one interviews is the PIP 2023-2028 Research & Extension Strategy. This document reflects the changing poultry industry goals, needs, and issues and will set the priorities for the coalition for the next five years.
PIP Flock Talks
PIP Flock Talks were originally hatched and designed by Val Carney and Brenda Reimer, long before the PIP team came into being. The format of a Flock Talk is a short presentation by a subject expert, followed by questions, discussion and an equal sharing of ideas from both participants and experts. The underlying philosophy of the Flock Talk is to create a safe space, where peer to peer learning can take place within a small gathering of like-minded producers and experts. Hands-on activities make up a part of the meeting and numbers are restricted to 15 or less, allowing a kitchen table sort of feel to the discussions. The PIP team took over the Flock Talk mantra and produced several events over the years.
The first Flock Talk with the team was titled How to Be Your Vet’s Right Hand. Due to COVID 19, the event took place virtually on November 17, 2021 and featured poultry veterinarians Dr. Teryn Girard and Dr. Mike Petric. Farmers learned how to take pictures and collect samples for a diagnostic post-mortem to assist veterinarians when they could not travel to the farm.
On October 19, 2022, PIP hosted the Feed and Water Flock Talks, which took place in Red Deer, AB. Speakers include Mohammad Afrouziyeh, Art van Zanten, Nancy Fischer, Steve Laycock and Dervan Bryan. Each session included a short presentation on feed or water, a hands-on activity and then lots of time for participants to ask questions and share their own experience.
Risk Management Flock Talks 2023: These Flock Talks took place in Edmonton (August 15) Calgary (August 16) and Lethbridge (August 17) offering solutions and ideas for mitigating on-farm risk through preventative actions such as immunization and biosecurity. Speakers included Dr. Teryn Girard and Dr. Hollyn Maloney from Prairie Livestock Veterinarians and Heather Watson from Farm Credit Canada. Brenda Reimer and the PIP team developed a board game to illustrate how decision making affects risk in real life on-farm situations. Flock Flock Forum: Mystery, Mayhem & Mastery of Fiber on February 26, 2024, in Red Deer. AB. The highly successful event took a deep dive into the use of fiber in poultry nutrition with engaging keynote presentations, break-out sessions and hands-on activities. 186 producers, researchers, academics and students attended the Forum. To learn more, read Leveraging Insights from the Fiber Flock Forum.
PIP Poultry Water App
Water is the number one input affecting poultry growth, health, performance and livability. After many months of brainstorming, research, collaboration and cutting through red tape, the PIP Poultry Water App was created, led by team member Mohammad Afrouziyeh. Through a decision tree model, the app is designed to troubleshoot water issues on farm, identifying and preventing problems before they get serious. The soft launch of the PIP Poultry Water App took place at the Feed and Water Talks on October 19, 2022. Participants learned how to use the app and brought information from their own farms to enter into the app to get hands-on experience. In April 2023, the PIP Poultry Water App was released to Alberta Producers with a free, early access code and in May it was released to the Alberta poultry industry and public world-wide. The app is free to AB producers and PIP partners and $49 as a one-time charge for everyone else.
Landscape Fabric Trial during AI Crisis
During the AI crisis in 2022, producers expressed concern that AI might be entering their barns as an airborne virus. After consultation with the poultry industry, PIP decided to do a short trial with landscape fabric over ventilation outlets to try and answer this question. PIP team members Thania Moraes and Mohammad Afrouziyeh measured the static pressure, air speed, and smoke clearance time inside the barn with no landscape fabric (control) or with the air inlets covered with landscape fabric.
The trial aimed to answer the question “If I put landscape fabric over my inlets to protect my birds, will my ventilation be negatively impacted?” The answer was: it depends, and more research is needed. You can read the final report here: https://extensionworx.ca/ventilation-protection-for-avian-influenza/
PIP Innovation Showcase
The PIP Innovation Showcase is a monthly webinar series led by Val Carney and Brenda Reimer to showcase new research and innovations of interest and of use to poultry producers. The first webinar took place on February 3, 2021, with Dr. Martin Zuidhof talking about Smart Poultry Nutrition. Presentations last about 45 minutes and then viewers are invited to ask questions in a live moderated Q&A. Speakers include academics, researchers, students and on-the ground industry experts. The series continued, almost without exception, on the first Wednesday of every month from February 2021 to our final presentation on March 5, 2025.
PIP Innovation Road Show
An offshoot of the original Innovation Showcase is the Innovation Road Show. The idea was to leave the studio, hop in a van and visit producers in their homes to discover what innovations they are using in real-time on the farm. Producers discussed their motivation, experiences and results from adaptation of a new technology or practice. Four exciting Innovation Road Show videos were produced from April 2023 to May 2024, with Brenda behind the camera and Val in the interviewer’s chair. The videos are available on YouTube and feature: Mike Froese: Level Up your Biosecurity, Jeff Notenbomer: Rethinking Feed and Labour on your Farm, A tour of the Manitoba Egg Farmers Learning and Research Centre and a visit to Burnbrae’s Ralos Solar Egg Farm in Ontario to learn about their approach to Sustainability.
The Magic of Experiential Learning and Mentorship Series: Feb – June 2024
Experiential Learning is having a moment both in education and as inspiration for a career path. Dr. Frank Robinson recently founded the Frank Robinson Youth Academy to bring agriculture education and experiences to urban students and inspired the wildly popular Ales Mini Internship Program at the U of A. PIP team member and writer Dawn Hage decided to track down some successful poultry professionals in a variety of industry occupations to find out how experiential learning and mentorship influenced their career path. The result was The Magic of Experiential Learning and Mentorship Series, launched in the PIP newsletter in February 2024. This influential series profiled five poultry professionals who changed the course of their careers after experiencing hands-on learning and discovering the welcoming and diverse poultry community. The five featured people are Victoria Sikur (CHEP) Tony Krynski (Aviagen), Jerry Emmanuel (Cargill), Rachelle Foss (Maple Leaf), and Brenda Reimer (PIP Knowledge Mobilization Officer.) In addition, Dawn profiled two individuals that were inspiring volunteers in the poultry industry who shared experiences and a history that mirrored the path of the experiential learning subjects. Art Van Zanten (Integrated Feed Solutions) and E. Nancy Fischer (Country Junction Feeds.)
Western Poultry Conference 2015 – 2025
The Western Poultry Conference is another brainchild of Val Carney and Brenda Reimer. The duo launched their very first conference in February 2015 and now celebrate 11 successful years with the final WPC recently occurring on Feb 24, 2025. The goal was to provide education and training opportunities for poultry farmers from all commodities in Alberta and across Western Canada in a one-day, action packed conference in Red Deer, AB. Students showcased their research through posters or presentations or simply attended to learn and network with industry members. A committee of industry leaders from all commodities formed to help organize the event and set the agenda, with pressing and current topics of interest to all producers, regardless of commodity. In 2021, the full PIP team joined Val and Brenda to host and produce the conference. In 2022, the conference went virtual due to COVID 19. In 2023 and 2024 the WPC took place at the Westerner Park in Red Deer, in June rather than February. WPC 2025 returned to the Red Deer Resort and Casino location in February for its final presentation with the PIP team as hosts. The 2025 WPC included three keynote speakers, two student research presentations and introduced two new innovations. First, the inaugural Cutting Edge Feather Award for Innovation was presented to producer Mike Stahl. This award celebrates a poultry producer for their innovation, leadership, community spirit and support of the poultry industry. The second innovation was the inclusion of commodity specific Breakout Rooms for Turkey, Hatching Egg, Table Egg and Broilers. Each room had a designated speaker(s) who addressed current and relevant issues for those particular producers. Followed by Q&A, lively discussion, input from other experts in the field and peer-to-peer sharing of experiences, the breakout rooms were a huge success.
Research Showcase Compilations
PIP team member Thania Moraes compiled the cutting edge research by Alberta researchers and scientists from 2022-2024 in two Research Showcase publications. 2022/2023 Research Showcase and 2023/2024 Research Showcase
PIP 2024 Stats! 744 people registered for the Innovation Showcase webinars, a total of 749 webinar minutes, 156 questions were answered. The PIP newsletter was opened 6,220 times over the year. Growth in every Social Media platform. Facebook increased by 8%, Instagram 19.8%, LinkedIn 11.6%, and Twitter by 15.5%. YouTube subscribers increased by 41.9%. Total people reached by PIP: 73,080.
Links for further Reading
People of Poultry booklet – Science Articles booklet – Tool of the Month booklets – Innovation Showcase Webinars – Innovation Roadshow Videos
Dawn has an MMUS from Northwestern University and worked from 2017 - 2021 as the U of A Heritage Chicken Program Coordinator. With extensive experience as a newspaper and magazine writer and editor, Dawn is the scribe for the PIP team. Duties include transcribing minutes, creating action lists, organizing team ideas and projects, editing, writing articles, and interviewing subjects for the People of Poultry series in the PIP newsletter. Dawn also assists in PIP tech transfer initiatives.
